


Really Crazy (mess) To Clean

by synodork



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, janitor! Josh, kinda??, more character later, this is just cute okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-05 21:17:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4195224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/synodork/pseuds/synodork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyler is straight, and really hates the mall.</p><p>That is, until he meets the hot janitor.</p><p>(Basically awkward high school senior Tyler and drop-out janitor Josh are really freaking cute)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chicken BLT

Tyler really didn't want to get out of bed this morning, he wasn't a fan of malls, for any reason. More often than not he was dragged in there by his sister who brought him along so "creeps didn't hit on her". Today was different however, as two months from now is prom (which Tyler was dreading, for reasons that his friends didn't know, and Tyler was in denial of). Prom meant shopping, and while Tyler couldn't care less about what shoes he was wearing, some of his friends were slightly over-ecstatic.

"Come on Tyler, you make it seem like I dragged you to a cemetery." teased Brendon, who was dragging Tyler by the hand into a store with ties lining the walls. Tyler didn't know why this many ties in one place was necessary, but he decided that vocalizing that opinion would cause him to be lectured by Brendon about the art of fashion and colour schemes, and Tyler was not mentally prepared for that.

"Well I mean, this is where all my hopes and dreams come to die, it isn't that much different" Tyler retorted rolling his eyes at an employee trying to persuade someone that the tie's "colour really brings out your eyes". Tyler wasn't sure how a mauve tie could bring out anyone's _anything_.

"Wow, okay, that was dramatic." Brendon huffed, giving up and dropping Tyler's hand. "Look at it this way, at least you don't have to worry about making sure your tie matches a girl's dress?"

"Yes, Brendon, reminding me about my loneliness is sure to really perk me up" Tyler sighed. The truth is though, Tyler didn't really want to have a date. The idea of having to dance up that close to a girl really just wasn't appealing. Part of Tyler knew why this was, but he'd never admit it. "Look, I'm going to see if there's any good food in the food court, alright? Text me if you need anything" and with that Tyler strolled out of the store, ignoring whatever Brendon was complaining about (he thinks he heard something about how Tyler having no sense of fashion, but he's not sure).

***

Tyler really, really hates malls. The large families trying to maneuver through crowds, the teenagers that are only there to pass time (seriously, could they not think of anything better to do?), and Tyler especially hated the line ups. So it's safe to say that he was not pleased when he was stuck in a Dairy Queen line up consisting of two large families ("Mooooooom! Terry is pulling my hair!" "Terry, leave your little sister alone or no ice cream." "What! That's no fair! I'm older!"), and five teenage girls who probably don't have enough money combined to buy anything on the menu ("So she like, totally sucked him off in the stall" "Ew! I knew she was a slut anyway" "Seriously, but she has like the cutest hair cut though" "Oh my god, I know right!"). Tyler was very close punching something (or someone) by the time he could order (Chicken BLT with medium fries and a large soft drink, please). Tyler breathed a sigh of relief as he was handed his tray of food.

"Hey asswipe, watch where you're going!"

There was another thing Tyler hated about going to the mall - hypocrites. Hypocrites caused Tyler to trip and spill food all over the floor, and also himself. Tyler very much liked having food in his mouth, but wasn't a huge fan of wearing it all over his favourite floral shirt.

"Wow, that guy was a dick, are you alright?" Tyler looked up from his crouched position on the floor to see a janitor (correction - a really fricking hot janitor, with sick hair).

"Ah yeah I'm good, I'm so sorry I-I'll help you clean this up-"

"Hey man, it's cool, I get paid for cleaning crap up, you don't" The (hot) janitor then smiled and wow that smile made this whole mall thing worth it because wow. Tyler may not have the best fashion sense, but he was sure that Josh would look really fucking great on him.

“Um... are you alright?” The janitor giggled, now crouched down to Tyler's level and quite frankly, very close close to his face. And while Tyler wasn't complaining about the hot guy getting up in his space, it was making talking a little more difficult.

“Yeah, I um- ahhh...” Great, now not only does the hot guy think that he's walking impared, he also believes that Tyler has some sort of speech problem too. Thankfully he didn't call Tyler out on his less than articulate speaking, and instead offered his hand to help Tyler up.

“I'm Josh, by the way” Josh, cool, that suited him. Josh was a simple, yet interesting name, and while Tyler didn't believe that Josh was simple by any means, it was still a name that he could imagine himself saying everyday.

“Am I just going to have to guess your name?” Josh questioned, tilting his head the the side. “because I can dig that, guessing games are fun. Um... maybe Kevin? No, Kevin's not a cute enough name for you, I mean a cute guy like you must have a cute name right?” He smiled.  Okay abort, hot g- Josh, just called him cute. All systems are shutting down- “Are you sure that you're okay?” Asked Josh, looking concerned.

“Tyler.”

“Um, what?” Josh looked at Tyler, confused. By this point, Tyler is certain this Josh guy thinks he's a complete moron. “I mean like... my name. My name is Tyler.” Josh giggled, again. If Josh giggles one more time Tyler is most definitely going to die, because hot boys giggling was never something Tyler imagined he would blush over, but this moment is proving him wrong big time.

“Tyler, yeah, that suits you.” Josh said, nodding slowly, as if silently approving Tyler's mother's choice of name.

“Thanks” Tyler's just proud of himself for saying actual words at this point.

“Say, Tyler. Sorry if this is weird, but, um.. ah, I was just, hmph.” Now it was Tyler's turn to laugh, it made him feel a little less stupid, seeing Josh, who was unbelievably hot, trip over his own words. “I was wondering if maybe I- maybe I could get your number? If not that's totally cool it's just that you're really cute and I should be cleaning up this mess but I just really want to keep talking to you.” Josh took a deep breath and looked up at Tyler with such a state of nervousness that made his heart do something that Tyler wasn't sure if he liked or not.

“Yeah, you could most definitely have my number, Josh.” Tyler was right, he did like the sound of Josh's name on his lips, and maybe it was spoken in more innocent ways than his mind was hoping, but he liked it nonetheless.

“Cool! Sick. Rad. Awesome. Shit.”

“...What?”

“I didn't mean that like- you giving me your number was shit. I meant shit as in, my phone is in the cleaning closet, do you have your phone?” Josh questioned, scratching the back of his neck, blushing. Yeah, Tyler could definitely get use to this whole 'hot guy blushing' thing.

“Yeah! Let me just...” Of course, he chose this one time in history to forget his phone at home. Of course. Tyler remembered leaving it on the kitchen counter before being dragged outside by Brendon. Curse Brendon. “Actually... I'm pretty sure I left it at home.”

“Crap um, okay. Do you mind coming to the closet with me? To get my phone, I mean.” Josh was probably as red as the tomato from Tyler's sad, fallen chicken BLT and Tyler used all of his decency and strength not to vocally awe.

“Sure thing” Tyler agreed allowing Josh show him the way.

Following a hot boy into a cleaning closet, what could go wrong, right?


	2. The Closet Adventures of Fashion Fiend and Mop Map

Turns out, a lot could go wrong.

"I am so sorry."

"Okay, but how could you _not_ know this door automatically locks from the outside?"

Josh and Tyler, were now stuck in a very small janitor's closet. 

Great. 

To make matters worse, Tyler still had food on his shirt, which was now dried and most certainly going to stain. 

Double great. 

Also, he was in very close proximity to a boy who was very attractive while stuck in a very hot small space. 

Triple.

Fucking.

Great.

"So" coughed Josh, interrupting the stale silence and looking at anything that wasn't Tyler. "I suppose we should take this time to get to know each other. " Josh's eyes flicked up to Tyler's to gauge his reaction to the suggestion, earning a confused gaze in return. "Maybe we could see how much we can learn about each other until your friend can find someone with keys?"

By "friend", Josh meant Brendon who didn't seem very concerned about Tyler's predicament ("Brendon can we not do this now?" "Just answer the question, is he hot?" "Yes, Brendon, now can you please find a mall cop or something?" "This sounds like a pretty sweet deal if I'm honest, I'll let you boys have some fun before coming to the rescue" "I hate you" "Love you too, pretty boy").

"Yeah, sure, you go first" Tyler caved, crossing his arms over his chest. Josh tapped an unknown rhythm on his thighs for a moment in thought.

"Well, um, I'm eighteen-"

"Wait, are you're still in school?" Tyler questioned, tilting his head to the side "Can you even be a part time janitor?" Josh chuckled in response.

"I ah, actually dropped out before my senior year and moved here hoping to find some music opportunities. No luck thus far, unfortunately, as you can probably tell by my array of cleaning supplies." He sighed, sliding down the locked door and bringing his knees towards his chest. Tyler visibly became more excited with this new information.

"Wait, you're into music? What do you play?"

"Drums." Tyler's smile grew as he chose to join Josh on the floor, crossing his legs and placing his hands on Josh's knees (if Tyler caught Josh blushing, he didn't mention it).

"No way! That's sick! I sing and play piano actually, I love writing songs." 

The boys seemed to forget the situation they were stuck in as they spoke of past experiences and future wishes on the floor of the small room. The strong smell of cleaner fading with every story spilled. Tyler learnt that Josh moved the summer after his Junior year; knowing that he wasn't going to graduate any way, and currently rooms in a two bedroom apartment with three other guys. He doesn't have enough money for much else. Josh was told of how Tyler played basketball because that's just how he was rasied, but he secretly enjoyed singing the anthem before the game more than actually playing in it. They both discovered that their dreams were eerily similar.

Tyler might have grabbed onto Josh's hand in excitement.

Josh might have been disappointed when Tyler pulled away.

They might have both jumped when they heard the sound of keys outside.

"Well if it isn't the fashion fiend and the hot janitor!" were the first words spoken after Tyler and Josh were freed.

"Nice to see you too, Brendon." Tyler mumbled, looking down at his vans, deciding that making eye contact with either Brendon or Josh would be a terrible idea. Even worse would be looking at the mall cop who probably had a very wrong idea of what just occurred in the closet he previously unlocked.  
Josh promised he would text Tyler after his shift.

***

Tyler sat on his bed that night, doing very little that wasn't texting josh.

The "texting" consisted of Tyler saying something, then throwing his phone to the other side of the bed, checking it every ten seconds, and practically pouncing on it when he finally got a reply (which in reality never took over 2 minutes, but to Tyler, it could've been 2 hours).

fashion fiend |2:04| Oh wow, it's already 2am.

**Hot Janitor** |2:05| crap i have to work tomorrow morning

 **Hot Janitor** |2:05|AND YOU HAVE SCHOOL OH MY GOD GO TO BED

fashion fiend |2:06| YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO.

 **Hot Janitor** |2:06| im older than you so actually yes i can

fashion fiend |2:08| By like four months get outta here.

 **Hot Janitor** |2:09| whatever we both should get some beauty rest

 **Hot Janitor** |2:09| i mean not that you need it

 **Hot Janitor** |2:12| im sorry that was weird wasnt it

 **Hot Janitor** |2:17| i hope that didnt make you uncomfortable im so so sorry

fashion fiend |2:17| No! No I just might have been like I don't know... giggling. But it was a super manly giggle, so it's whatever.

 **Hot Janitor** |2:18| i would argue that but im hecka tired so goodnight good sir

fashion fiend |2:18| Good night, mop man.

***

Tyler might have had dreams of dyed hair and drums.

Josh might have had dreams of manly giggling and piano playing.

If they did, it was never spoken of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one was a bit shorter! Again feedback is super appreciated! Also, do you guys want there to be some conflict? Or be basically a big ball of fluff. 'Cause I have ideas for both :)


End file.
